Miami homecoming for Gators receiver Quinton Dunbar

Florida's Quinton Dunbar (1) picks up yardage against Toledo last week at Florida Field in Gainesville.

GAINESVILLE | From Booker T. Washington High School, it takes just a left and a right to reach the Adrienne *****t Performing Arts Center. The center, a place where culture meets class, is 1.2 miles away from where Quinton Dunbar excelled as a Tornadoes wide receiver.

Booker T. Washington, nestled between the Dolphin Expressway and Flagler Street, is in the heart of Overtown. The Tornadoes have a football history as rich as the history within the Miami neighborhood it calls home. Successes on the football field contrast with the struggles of a community often overlooked amid the downtown skyscrapers that surround it.

When No. 12 Florida (1-0) takes on Miami (1-0) on Saturday at noon, it’ll be Dunbar’s first game in South Florida since arriving in Gainesville. While the redshirt junior reserved around 20 tickets to Sun Life Stadium, it’ll be his entire home turf watching its 6-foot-1 wideout.

Overtown has fought off a troubled past. The urban decay after the construction of Interstate 95, which hovers over its houses, decimated a once-vibrant Miami hot spot with a now-median income of $12,209.

Dunbar escaped the temptations that plague the 117-year-old town with the help of his mother, Twanette, who kept him in line. By wearing No. 1 in the orange and blue, Dunbar carries with him the adulation of a young city population fending off a persistent cycle of poverty.

“The success rate is low. I always just try to tell them whatever you put your mind to, you can achieve,” Dunbar said. “Coming from a city like that where there’s a lot of drugs and a lot of guns, it’s very hard to get out of it. But if you put your mind to it, you can get out of that situation.”

Through two seasons, Dunbar has been Florida’s top receiver, with career marks of 51 catches and 601 yards. Offensive coordinator Brent Pease raved about how Dunbar has become a leader among an inexperienced receiver corps.

The Gators almost lost out on Dunbar, who originally committed to Miami in March 2009 before decommitting in April and switching to the Gators six months later.

Dunbar grew up during the Hurricanes’ renaissance in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Miami captured the 2001 national championship and reached the title game in 2003 against Ohio State.

He idolized the late Sean Taylor, who starred at Miami from 2001-2003. The Hurricanes connection runs deeper than the childhood admiration of one of the school’s all-time greats. Dunbar played Pop Warner football with Hurricanes running back Duke Johnson. Miami starting linebacker Denzel Perryman is Dunbar’s cousin.

Pease hadn’t talked to Dunbar about returning home but imagined that it’ll be emotional for him.

“He just has to understand that you can’t press,” Pease said. “You have to just go with the flow and compete. That’s what the good ones do. He’ll show up.”